Thai police launched a major operation on Koh Phangan on May 13, raiding 32 companies suspected of using Thai nominees to illegally hold land on behalf of foreign investors. More than 300 officers took part in the coordinated crackdown, which targeted businesses linked to land ownership worth more than 150 million baht.

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The operation was led by Pol General Samran Nualma, deputy national police chief, alongside Pol Lieutenant General Noppasilp Poolsawat, commissioner attached to the Office of the National Police Chief. Officers from specialist police units, immigration police, Provincial Police Region 8, Surat Thani police, Krabi police and Koh Phangan Police Station were deployed across 32 locations on the island.

Authorities said the companies under investigation collectively hold 37 land title deeds. Officers seized corporate documents, shareholder records, company registration papers, land deeds, lease agreements, financial records, bank account details and evidence of international money transfers. Digital evidence and computer equipment were also confiscated during the searches.

Police are also pursuing four suspects linked to alleged illegal foreign business operations and nominee shareholding arrangements. The group includes one foreign national and three Thai nationals accused of helping foreign investors circumvent Thai ownership laws.

The raids targeted luxury villas, commercial premises and a law office suspected of coordinating nominee arrangements for foreign property ownership. One of the main sites searched was a luxury villa complex in Moo 7 of Koh Phangan subdistrict, consisting of around six villas owned by a company now under investigation.

Pictures courtesy of Daily News

The crackdown came on the same day as Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s inspection visit to Surat Thani and follows wider investigations by the Department of Special Investigation and the Department of Business Development. Authorities are reviewing more than 11,400 companies in Surat Thani province.

The Prime Minister later joined a raid an alleged illegal pool villa and ordered an investigation into the financial transactions after discovering that an Israeli national was owning it using a Thai national as a nominee.

Anutin Charnvirakul arrived at the residence in Moo 7, Ban Cholok Lam, Koh Phangan Subdistrict, Surat Thani Province, where a villa company is located. He gathered with accompanying ministers and government officials responsible for the Koh Phangan area for a discussion in front of a pool villa that had been reportedly illegally constructed.

Investigators are examining whether foreign investors used Thai nominees to control land, tourism businesses and hotels in violation of the Foreign Business Act. Officials are also checking whether some hotels operated without licences and whether foreign nationals were working illegally or in occupations reserved for Thai citizens.

According to Department of Business Development figures, 3,213 of Koh Phangan’s 4,761 registered companies involve foreign investment, representing around 67% of all registered firms on the island. Israeli investors account for 22% of those companies, followed by French investors at 13% and British investors at 11%.

Daily News reported that authorities said investigations will continue into financial transactions, company ownership structures and the legitimacy of shareholder investments. The government said legal foreign investment remains welcome but warned that nominee structures, illegal land ownership and unlicensed business operations will face stricter enforcement.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now Dailynews 14 May 2026

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All you have to do to find these is go on Marketplace, and you'll see a list of construction projects with AI pics of villas on 200 sqm of land for 10 m (can't believe people buy these on leasehold for that price). Nearly all are listed by foreign nationals.

If they are struggling to find places that use nominee's then I suggest the favela that is chaweng noi in samui as a good place to check .

Wow.

I could hear the sound of 10,000 foreign butts clenching. And I'm not even in Thailand until tomorrow...

Edited May 14May 14 by impulse

6 minutes ago, ronster said:

If they are struggling to find places that use nominee's then I suggest the favela that is chaweng noi in samui as a good place to check .

No one likes a grass.

2 minutes ago, Bagwain said:

No one likes a grass.

Not a grass . Stevie wonder could clearly see the amount of villas there and they ain't all legal for sure 🙄

Pretty well every property or land “owned” by a foreigner controlled company in Thailand involves the use of nominee Thai shareholders. I used to work for a Thai law firm about 15 years ago and my job involved setting up such companies and each time we used office staff such as secretaries and the cleaner to act as nominee shareholders. That was the accepted way then but it changed over night when the spotlight was put on Thaksin for using nominee shareholders in his Shin Corp company.

If any foreigners are now holding property in a company name with nominee shareholders they should be very nervous as clearly the government are really clamping down. It’s a pity the UK doesn’t have the same foreign ownership restrictions

41 minutes ago, Issanraider said:

Pretty well every property or land “owned” by a foreigner controlled company in Thailand involves the use of nominee Thai shareholders. I used to work for a Thai law firm about 15 years ago and my job involved setting up such companies and each time we used office staff such as secretaries and the cleaner to act as nominee shareholders. That was the accepted way then but it changed over night when the spotlight was put on Thaksin for using nominee shareholders in his Shin Corp company.

If any foreigners are now holding property in a company name with nominee shareholders they should be very nervous as clearly the government are really clamping down. It’s a pity the UK doesn’t have the same foreign ownership restrictions

The UK and most other countries know which side of the bread is buttered. Ironically, Thaskin (and all the other Chinese-Thai Hi-So's) have always been the 2 faced sob's that they are; owning property all over the world, but denying foreigners the right to own property here. (side note, try spell checking Thaksin and you get ''Sharkskin''). Life is good.

32 minutes ago, paddypower said:

The UK and most other countries know which side of the bread is buttered. Ironically, Thaskin (and all the other Chinese-Thai Hi-So's) have always been the 2 faced sob's that they are; owning property all over the world, but denying foreigners the right to own property here. (side note, try spell checking Thaksin and you get ''Sharkskin''). Life is good.

As everywhere in the world, the PM and politicians are the 'voice of the people' they represent. And Thais smartly don't want foreigners owning anything other the some condos.

All foreign property investment does is raise the cost of housing in TH. Thais are smartly against that, as it should be. "Thailand for Thais"

Cracking down on nominee ownership is a good thing, for Thailand and Thais. Need a lot more of it.

Edited May 14May 14 by KhunLA

There it's plain to see that the WEF & OECD are putting there NWO filthy greedy control mechanisms in place.

Add all the Visa stuff happenning and what a mess for western farangs.

I bet their is more to that 1 man Chinese army guy that meets the eye as well!

13 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

All foreign property investment does is raise the cost of housing in TH. Thais are smartly against that, as it should be. "Thailand for Thais"

Do you think Thailand development and growth could reasonably sustain mitigating foreign investments (RE market remains a big chunk of foreign money inflows)?

1 hour ago, ronster said:

Not a grass . Stevie wonder could clearly see the amount of villas there and they ain't all legal for sure 🙄

Interesting that you used Chaweng Noi as an example, but it's clearly the amount of villas there from your comment here ....and there was me thinking that using the word 'favela' you were privvy to some juicy info in regard to the demographic who live up in the hills there......I'm kinda disappointed, was hoping for more insider info....!!

6 minutes ago, Off Piste said:

Interesting that you used Chaweng Noi as an example, but it's clearly the amount of villas there from your comment here ....and there was me thinking that using the word 'favela' you were privvy to some juicy info in regard to the demographic who live up in the hills there......I'm kinda disappointed, was hoping for more insider info....!!

The villas you can't see from the road on the middle part of the mountain basically looks like a rio slum and as far as I remember it was Russians that started all the building there . The roads they put in when construction started looked impossible to drive up they are that steep and I have driven around plenty on the hills in samui that were just passable to get up in AWD and praying when coming down them.

If you are party to a nominee company scenario you need to be very worried

If such a company is deemed to be unlawful who owns the property registered in its name- will it go to the Thai government?

17 minutes ago, ronster said:

The villas you can't see from the road on the middle part of the mountain basically looks like a rio slum and as far as I remember it was Russians that started all the building there . The roads they put in when construction started looked impossible to drive up they are that steep and I have driven around plenty on the hills in samui that were just passable to get up in AWD and praying when coming down them.

It was mostly English and some French in very early noughties, maybe Russians much later..........I was offered a 1 rai plot there in 2001 for 1 million Thb with Chanote believe it or not. That was a steal back then, but noone had the confidence then, as there were other more prime areas a little dearer that were better for developers......

6 minutes ago, Off Piste said:

It was mostly English and some French in very early noughties, maybe Russians much later..........I was offered a 1 rai plot there in 2001 for 1 million Thb with Chanote believe it or not. That was a steal back then, but noone had the confidence then, as there were other more prime areas a little dearer that were better for developers......

Yeah some people got lucky and bought loads of land for peanuts and sold it all off or developed it. Most of them will have left the country I'm sure with their cash and never be seen again.

Met a guy before who bought about 30 Rai on hillside looking towards Chong Mon bay where six senses resort is. He said it was just all bushes and the odd tree before and nobody was interested as it looked a mess. He has sold plots and villas there in last few years and obviously made an absolute killing. The villas start at 30 million I think going up to 90 million 🤯

3 minutes ago, ronster said:

Yeah some people got lucky and bought loads of land for peanuts and sold it all off or developed it. Most of them will have left the country I'm sure with their cash and never be seen again.

Met a guy before who bought about 30 Rai on hillside looking towards Chong Mon bay where six senses resort is. He said it was just all bushes and the odd tree before and nobody was interested as it looked a mess. He has sold plots and villas there in last few years and obviously made an absolute killing. The villas start at 30 million I think going up to 90 million 🤯

Exciting times, some early pioneers did very well, but not without other risks I should add, albeit without much, if any government inspection or scrutiny.........the earliest crackdown/newsworthy event at the time that I can remember was around 05 ish when some 'bandito' (can't remember which motorcycle club) member, a Danish guy, big unit, was arrested in some dawn raid by the Bangkok DSI, in relation to fraudulent title deeds and no doubt other stuff.............never saw that beautiful bright blue Range Rover ever again after that.................!

So funny that the PM of the country actually joined in one of these raids. Not something you see every day of the week

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

As everywhere in the world, the PM and politicians are the 'voice of the people' they represent. And Thais smartly don't want foreigners owning anything other the some condos.

All foreign property investment does is raise the cost of housing in TH. Thais are smartly against that, as it should be. "Thailand for Thais"

Cracking down on nominee ownership is a good thing, for Thailand and Thais. Need a lot more of it.

If Thais don’t want foreigners owning Thai land, where do all the nominees come from?

Wake me up when villa are seized and businesses are closed and sold/auctioned off. Until then its just noise.

2 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Do you think Thailand development and growth could reasonably sustain mitigating foreign investments (RE market remains a big chunk of foreign money inflows)?

Yes, because they will not only drive the real estate price up, and push locals out of the market, the reason they can do it is by starting illegal businesses on these lands as well. Hence, the government should not only look at the nominee structure, but even more at the business models of these foreigners. Where does the money come from ? What for example is an Israeli going to do in Phangna ? Why is he even coming? The scam centers are a good example of what started with the acquisition of a piece of land.

33 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

If Thais don’t want foreigners owning Thai land, where do all the nominees come from?

And what percentage of the population are nominees ...

3 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Do you think Thailand development and growth could reasonably sustain mitigating foreign investments (RE market remains a big chunk of foreign money inflows)?

Why not ? Tourist and congested areas might not be as messed up, if foreigners didn't invest.

Another question would be ... ' Would the over developed areas not be over developed, if not for foreigner investing ? "

48 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

If Thais don’t want foreigners owning Thai land, where do all the nominees come from?

They're coming from Greed.... a very populous place in Thailand.

11 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Why not ? Tourist and congested areas might not be as messed up, if foreigners didn't invest.

Another question would be ... ' Would the over developed areas not be over developed, if not for foreigner investing ? "

Then, for instance, who's gonna buy all these multiple millions baht condo units in BKK. Thais (who can afford) alone would not fill the offer.

It could be indeed over-developed, but construction business generates a lot of income over several years for many local people directly and indirectly involved into long term building projects.

5 hours ago, Issanraider said:

Pretty well every property or land “owned” by a foreigner controlled company in Thailand involves the use of nominee Thai shareholders. I used to work for a Thai law firm about 15 years ago and my job involved setting up such companies and each time we used office staff such as secretaries and the cleaner to act as nominee shareholders. That was the accepted way then but it changed over night when the spotlight was put on Thaksin for using nominee shareholders in his Shin Corp company.

If any foreigners are now holding property in a company name with nominee shareholders they should be very nervous as clearly the government are really clamping down. It’s a pity the UK doesn’t have the same foreign ownership restrictions

Yeah. I've heard the threats for a couple of decades now.

Looks like this time they really are serious. It was gonna happen sooner or later..

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

So funny that the PM of the country actually joined in one of these raids. Not something you see every day of the week

Strikes me they mean business big time this time.

In the past they'd just whack someone who'd caused a stir, like that Bandido further up. Then it all went quiet again.

I'd be very worried if I had a nominee setup right now. There's so much more cash and land involved for the government to get its hands on this time round.

Pretty well every property or land “owned” by a foreigner controlled company in Thailand involves the use of nominee Thai shareholders. I used to work for a Thai law firm about 15 years ago and my job involved setting up such companies and each time we used office staff such as secretaries and the cleaner to act as nominee shareholders. That was the accepted way then but it changed over night when the spotlight was put on Thaksin for using nominee shareholders in his Shin Corp company.

If any foreigners are now holding property in a company name with nominee shareholders they should be very nervous as clearly the government are really clamping down. It’s a pity the UK doesn’t have the same foreign ownership restrictions

Yeah. I've heard the threats for a couple of decades now.

Looks like this time they really are serious. It was gonna happen sooner or later..

The scary thing about this story is all the foreigners who thought they were doing a legal process. Under the guidance of an attorney, no less. They now stand to lose $$ millions.

Of course, I'm sure that a lot of foreigners knew they were doing something dodgy. But a lot of them were scammed. I'd like to think there will be consequences for the attorneys (never mind the land department officials involved), but I'm not holding my breath.

13 minutes ago, impulse said:

The scary thing about this story is all the foreigners who thought they were doing a legal process. Under the guidance of an attorney, no less. They now stand to lose $$ millions.

Of course, I'm sure that a lot of foreigners knew they were doing something dodgy. But a lot of them were scammed. I'd like to think there will be consequences for the attorneys (never mind the land department officials involved), but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm sure 'many ' of them knew it was dodgy. I've heard them talk - they thought they had it all stitched up.

As for those who were scammed. Surely the fact that you're being asked, cajoled even, into doing all this with your life's savings, by your darling wife and her lawyer should raise a vague question? I think I'd have wanted a second opinion. Preferably at a Land Office in a different province.

And as I've always said and lived by my whole life: there's no point in settling in another country if you don't learn the language. Knowledge is power and you will always be vulnerable otherwise.

Edited May 14May 14 by BusyB

4 minutes ago, BusyB said:

I'm sure 'many ' of them knew it was dodgy. I've heard them talk - they thought they had it all stitched up.

As for those who were scammed. Surely the fact that you're being asked, cajoled even, into doing all this with your life's savings, by your darling wife and her lawyer should raise a vague question? I think I'd have wanted a second opinion. Preferably at a Land Office in a different province.

And as I've always said and lived by my whole life: there's no point in settling in another country if you don't learn the language. Knowledge is power and you will always be vulnerable otherwise.

Personally, I believe that there were also many naive buyers and in many cases ones with selective hearing that only wanted to hear what would make a purchase possible. In particular punters who may have been in glitzy developers' sales areas and subsequently ushered into in house lawyers offices or associated firms that would more than likely gloss over the important legals...........Kinda timeshare esque almost in some cases........Quite easy for those inexperienced with a dream and blinded by the delights of the country to fall prey.